AUBURN — Gus Malzahn outlined Auburn’s primary needs in recruiting between this week’s early signing period and February’s National Signing Day as, “another elite running back … another big-time receiver, a couple more offensive linemen and a couple more linebackers.”

The Tigers could address the first one by landing a player like four-star West Palm Beach, Florida, athlete Mark-Antony Richards, who has visited the Plains multiple times. They could satisfy the second by hanging onto a commitment from four-star Hoover standout George Pickens, who Malzahn was, by rule, not able to mention by name Wednesday.

It’s the third entry on that list — “a couple more offensive linemen” — that stands out the most, especially after four-star Tampa, Fla., guard target William Putnam chose Clemson over Auburn and Florida State on Thursday.

Offensive line recruiting has not exactly been a source of strength during the Malzahn era. When he returned to the Plains as the head coach in 2013, Auburn had a standout group that included Shon Coleman, Reese Dismukes, Alex Kozan, Greg Robinson, Chad Slade and Avery Young, some of whom were holdovers from his time as offensive coordinator.

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The offensive line works out during Auburn University football practice on Saturday August 2, 2014 in Auburn, Ala.(Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

Those players created a foundation that carried Auburn through the 2017 season. The Tigers weren’t always successful on the field after 2013, but they were pretty consistently strong up front. Five top-35 rushing offenses and six 1,000-yard rushers serve as evidence.

But that run of success ended this past season with the departures of multiyear stalwarts Braden Smith, Austin Golson and Darius James, as well as graduate transfer Casey Dunn.

Auburn’s rushing offense ranks 68th nationally going into the Dec. 28 Music City Bowl, and its 3.8 yards per carry against FBS teams — the lowest of Malzahn’s tenure — ranks 94th. JaTarvious Whitlow needs 223 yards against Purdue to continue the program’s nine-year streak of having a 1,000-yard rusher.

A rebuilt offensive line featuring a group of players — tackles Prince Tega Wanogho and Jack Driscoll, guards Marquel Harrell and Mike Horton, and centers Kaleb Kim and Nick Brahms — who entered the season with only 20 combined starts at the SEC level wasn’t solely to blame, but it certainly carries some of the responsibility.

So too does Auburn’s recruiting of that position, which was spearheaded by J.B. Grimes from 2013-15 and Herb Hand from 2016-17 before Grimes came back to replace Hand (who departed for Texas) in 2018.

Here’s a look back at Auburn’s six offensive line recruiting classes since Malzahn became the head coach (including both high school and junior college signees, as well as transfers):

2013 — Deon Mix (three-star guard), Devonte Danzey (three-star guard)

Danzey, considered the top junior college guard when he joined Auburn from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College, appeared in 29 games over three seasons. He backed up Kozan in 2013, started seven games when Kozan missed the entire 2014 season with a back injury, then rotated in and out of the lineup in 2015. … Mix played in only three games from 2014-16, all as a reserve, before joining Houston as a graduate transfer for the 2017 season (during which he played in two games).

Auburn hit home runs with Smith and Golson. The former, now a starting tackle with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, appeared in 53 games and made 41 consecutive starts to end his impressive four-year career, earning first-team All-SEC and All-America honors in the process. The latter started all 38 games he played for the Tigers after sitting out the 2014 season due to transfer rules, appearing at center, left guard and both tackle spots. … Dampeer, a junior college product, appeared in only 12 games (four starts) over three seasons on the Plains, including just one in 2015 after suffering a broken jaw in the altercation that led to the dismissal of former wide receiver D’haquille Williams.

James started as a backup to Golson in 2016 before eventually becoming a fixture up front, starting eight games at left tackle in 2016 and 12 at right tackles in 2017. … Harrell and Horton redshirted in 2015, split 13 starts at left guard as sophomores in 2017, then started every game at left and right guard, respectively, during the 2018 season. … Kim also redshirted in 2015, served as solely a backup from 2016-17, then started seven games at center this past season — the first three and last four, dealing with an undisclosed injury in between. … Sharp was the team’s backup left tackle in 2018, and Carr left the team before the season began despite having two seasons of eligibility remaining. Neither has started a game.

Most schools considered Sammons a defensive line prospect, but Hand recruited him to play offensive line. He has appeared in only two games over three seasons. … Hamm signed in 2016 but didn’t enroll at school until 2017 after undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He redshirted the 2017 season and appeared in only two games in 2018.

Bell never ended up being a factor for Auburn, but Dunn was, entering the lineup in Week 4 of the 2017 season and starting nine of the final 11 games at center. … Ashley, Brahms and Troxell redshirted as true freshmen, then saw various levels of playing time in 2018 — Ashley appeared in five games (one start); Brahms seven games (with five straight starts at center from Week 4 vs. Arkansas through Week 8 at Ole Miss); and Troxell all 12 games (zero starts). … Ashley missed the latter half of the season with what Malzahn described as a “medical issue,” but the head coach said Wednesday that the team expects him back in January.

Driscoll started 11 of 12 games at right tackle (he missed an Oct. 6 loss at Mississippi State due to injury) and will likely reprise that role in his final season of eligibility next year. … Irvin and Stutts, who were recruited by Hand and inherited by Grimes when he returned to the Plains, appeared in one game each (Alabama State) and took redshirts.

Add in the two offensive line who signed Wednesday — four-star LaGrange, Georgia, guard Keiondre Jones and three-star Flower Mound, Texas, guard/tackle Justin Osborne — and Auburn has brought in 23 offensive linemen since 2013: 16 from high school, two from junior college and five transfers from other Division I schools.

To compare, Alabama has signed 29 offensive linemen during that same stretch, and that total doesn't include any transfers. Georgia has signed 27, and LSU 26.

Of course, it's not all about volume. It's not all about where the players come from, either — a talented player is a talented player, whether they came to Auburn from high school (Smith) or another college (Golson, James, Dunn).

The larger issue seems to be the development and on-field impact of the players the Tigers have signed out of high school. Only six of those 16 high school signees have started a game for Auburn — Smith (41), Horton (19), Harrell (18), Kim (7), Brahms (5) and Ashley (1).

Wanogho has started 19 games, but he signed with the Tigers as a defensive lineman in 2015 before making the move to the offensive line the following offseason. He's one of two defensive line signees on the offensive line depth chart — Tashawn Manning, like Hamm, was part of the 2016 class, enrolled in 2017 after undergoing cancer treatments and appeared in two games this past season after making the switch from defense to offense.

Auburn's offensive line did improve toward the end of the 2018 season, which bodes well for 2019 given that all five primary starters — Wanogho, Harrell, Kim, Horton and Driscoll — are slated to return. Another spring and fall practicing together can only help.

"I think we learned about each other as the season went on," Horton said this week. "The outside criticism, we can’t really listen to any of that. We’ve just got to work on our stuff and get better."

But depth is a growing concern for 2020 and beyond, as all five of those players will be seniors next season. Here's how the scholarship chart looks going in next season, barring any unforeseen departures:

Seniors: Driscoll, Harrell, Horton, Kim, Sharp, Wanogho

Juniors: Sammons

Sophomores: Ashley, Brahms, Hamm, Manning, Troxell

Redshirt freshmen: Irvin, Stutts

True freshmen: Jones, Osborne

Auburn will make it a priority to add to that group before February's National Signing Day, like Malzahn said.

Some names to watch between now then are three-star Moultrie, Ga., guard Kamaar Bell, who was one of Kenny Dillingham’s first calls after he became offensive coordinator earlier this month; and four-star JUCO tackle Bamidele Olaseni, who visited campus recently. More targets will surely emerge in the coming weeks.

Given what happened in the six classes before this one, there might be no bigger need on Auburn's roster.